Throat cancer increasing among white Americans

By Will Boggs, MD

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The rate of throat cancer, or adenocarcinoma of the esophagus, has risen steadily among white Americans over the past 3 decades, according to a new report.

Although the rates of adenocarcinoma among white women have been lower than among white men, the 335-percent increase in new cases among women over the last three decades has been almost as fast as the 463-percent increased rate among white men, Dr. Linda Morris Brown from RTI International, Rockville, Maryland told Reuters Health.

Brown and colleagues performed a detailed examination of the trends in esophageal adenocarcinoma rates among white individuals by sex, stage, and age using data collected by the National Cancer Institute's SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results) program.

Total esophageal cancer rates among white men increased steadily from 5.76 per 100,000 persons per year from 1975 to 1979, up to 8.34 per 100,000 persons per year between 2000 and 2004, the researchers report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

In contrast, total esophageal cancer rates among white women remained constant. A 29-percent decrease in squamous cell carcinoma rates occurred at the same time as the 335-percent increase in adenocarcinoma, the researchers note.

The major risk factors for esophageal adenocarcinoma, and the condition that precedes this cancer - Barrett's esophagus -- are gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD -- chronic heartburn) and obesity, especially abdominal obesity, Brown pointed out. "Increases in the prevalence of these risk factors may have contributed to the upward trend in incidence."

Brown suggests that "primary prevention such as modifications in diet and physical activity and control of GERD symptoms may be able to slow this trend.